JoakimFlorence
Newly Enlightened
- Joined
- Jun 4, 2016
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- 193
This is a comparison between two widely used high CRI emitters for flashlights.
Some of you may be familiar with the name "Nichia 219a". Technically that designation has been discontinued and modern product is now 219CT.
If you are looking for a high CRI emitter, you may be wondering which one to use.
Note that not all SST-20 emitters are high CRI, but rather they make different versions with different CRI levels, and the same is true for Nichia's 219CT. So we'll be looking at the highest CRI versions.
Luminus SST-20-WxH 95CRI
J5 flux code bin (in the middle) 210 lumen flux at 700 mA
Nichia
NVSW219CT (R9050 92 CRI version)
254 lumen flux at 700 mA
You'll notice that we are comparing a 92 CRI LED to a 95 CRI LED. There is going to be an inherent trade-off in lumen efficiency (amount of visible light).
Note that the 92 CRI Nichia puts out 20-21% more lumen output than the 95 CRI SST-20.
The SST-20-WG, on the other hand is 90 CRI.
D1 flux code bin (in the middle) is 360 lumens at 1000 mA, compared to 284 lumens at 1000 mA for the SST-20-WxH 95CRI (J5 flux bin).
So we see that the 90 CRI puts out 26-27% more lumens than the 95 CRI version.
Now for some explanation on exactly what these different CRI levels are actually like.
90 CRI is noticeably a notch better than average LED lighting (and certainly so much more colorful than 70 CRI flashlight LEDs), but still you can tell some of the color is sucked out. Things could look more vibrant and colorful.
92 to 93 CRI is when warm wood tones and skin tones start to look fully warm and lively. The downside is sometimes pure red colors can appear like less of a pure red and appear just a little orange-toned.
In my personal opinion, for those who nitpick about light quality, 93 CRI is when things truly get to the level of "satisfactory" and nice for an indoor living space. You can start to feel the light has some "warmth" (this separate from the concept of color temperature).
95 CRI is fantastic color rendering. Red colors will really pop and colors that are supposed to be warm will truly appear fully warm. You'll get maximum color contrast between red and green colors and things will look very lively. Often starting at 95 CRI the LED light will begin taking on more of the feel of other natural light sources.
At this point we're talking about light suitable for displaying paintings for artistic purposes.
There is no reason to really need higher than 90 CRI for a flashlight, but the light will just be nicer in appearance and things will seem more pleasant, more colorful and lively. For many people who are less sensitive, they may not even perceive any improvement after the CRI goes above 90.
For a flashlight, I personally think the Nichia (at 92 CRI) is a good compromise for those desiring higher CRI.
Some of you may be familiar with the name "Nichia 219a". Technically that designation has been discontinued and modern product is now 219CT.
If you are looking for a high CRI emitter, you may be wondering which one to use.
Note that not all SST-20 emitters are high CRI, but rather they make different versions with different CRI levels, and the same is true for Nichia's 219CT. So we'll be looking at the highest CRI versions.
Luminus SST-20-WxH 95CRI
J5 flux code bin (in the middle) 210 lumen flux at 700 mA
Nichia
NVSW219CT (R9050 92 CRI version)
254 lumen flux at 700 mA
You'll notice that we are comparing a 92 CRI LED to a 95 CRI LED. There is going to be an inherent trade-off in lumen efficiency (amount of visible light).
Note that the 92 CRI Nichia puts out 20-21% more lumen output than the 95 CRI SST-20.
The SST-20-WG, on the other hand is 90 CRI.
D1 flux code bin (in the middle) is 360 lumens at 1000 mA, compared to 284 lumens at 1000 mA for the SST-20-WxH 95CRI (J5 flux bin).
So we see that the 90 CRI puts out 26-27% more lumens than the 95 CRI version.
Now for some explanation on exactly what these different CRI levels are actually like.
90 CRI is noticeably a notch better than average LED lighting (and certainly so much more colorful than 70 CRI flashlight LEDs), but still you can tell some of the color is sucked out. Things could look more vibrant and colorful.
92 to 93 CRI is when warm wood tones and skin tones start to look fully warm and lively. The downside is sometimes pure red colors can appear like less of a pure red and appear just a little orange-toned.
In my personal opinion, for those who nitpick about light quality, 93 CRI is when things truly get to the level of "satisfactory" and nice for an indoor living space. You can start to feel the light has some "warmth" (this separate from the concept of color temperature).
95 CRI is fantastic color rendering. Red colors will really pop and colors that are supposed to be warm will truly appear fully warm. You'll get maximum color contrast between red and green colors and things will look very lively. Often starting at 95 CRI the LED light will begin taking on more of the feel of other natural light sources.
At this point we're talking about light suitable for displaying paintings for artistic purposes.
There is no reason to really need higher than 90 CRI for a flashlight, but the light will just be nicer in appearance and things will seem more pleasant, more colorful and lively. For many people who are less sensitive, they may not even perceive any improvement after the CRI goes above 90.
For a flashlight, I personally think the Nichia (at 92 CRI) is a good compromise for those desiring higher CRI.
